Nicola Bulley missing: Setback in desperate search for mum as new witness seen on CCTV ‘tells cops she DIDN’T see her’
COPS have been dealt a blow in their desperate search for missing Nicola Bulley as a new witness seen on CCTV told police she "didn't see her".
Nicola, 45, disappeared a week ago while walking her dog along the River Wyre in Lancashire.
Cops had issued a CCTV image of a woman in red they wished to speak to who was seen in the area walking a small white dog.
The woman was seen at around 8.48am on Allotment Lane, close to where Nicola was last seen.
But while being quizzed yesterday, Christine Bowman, 67, reportedly told police she did not see Ms Bulley during her walk, according to
Ms Bowman said she was baffled by the appeal to track her down because she had already spoken to officers on the day Nicola disappeared - and she "doesn't know anything".
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The setback comes as a friend revealed one of Nicola's final texts sent just minutes before she disappeared.
The pal told the : "She booked a playdate, 8.57, she sent a text message to a friend whose mortgage she had just recently signed off on to arrange for the girls to go for tea this week.”
It means Nicola sent the text message before logging on a work conference call at 9.01am.
The friend believes she had no intention of disappearing on purpose due to the nature of the text message.
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Police search teams, divers and hundreds of volunteers have found no clues as to where she might be despite painstakingly searching the deep waters nearby.
Cops have even issued a 45-minute timeline of the mum of two’s last known movements in a desperate bid to track her down.
Ms Bowman - who police hoped could provide key pieces of information in the search for Ms Bulley - does not travel as far as the bench where the missing mother's phone and dog were found.
"The security camera footage that she was caught on was taken from the caravan park next to the towpath.
"That's as far as she goes, she doesn't walk her dog further along the footpath than that point."
Nicola - known to friends as Nikki - was said to be upbeat before she vanished and her parents said she had made spa break plans the night before.
Nicola had also bought tickets to watch the girls perform at choir and gymnastics shows.
Her devastated sister Louise Cunningham says the family are “stuck in a nightmare” a week since she disappeared.
Nicola's distraught family made an emotional appeal for information yesterday, saying they would "do anything" to find her.
The family begged for help to find her and said that "people don't just vanish into thin air".
'ONE LAST HOPE'
While on ITV's Good Morning Britain today, her friend Emma White revealed that she and others would "retrace her steps" in a bid to dig up any hidden clues.
Emma said: "The more time goes on you’re questioning yourself about what went wrong. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions.
"It’s been 7 days and we’re out in force again. Our thought process is to explore every avenue with the police and community and find the missing piece of the jigsaw.
"This is our one last hope that someone or something could share a piece of information of where she is."
An emotional Emma pleaded: "Her story has touched the nation - she is a mother, daughter and a great friend.
"We just want Nikki back."
Nicola, 45, began her walk along the towpath to the River Wyre at 8.43am after dropping her two children off at school.
Police say around seven minutes later, a dog walker who knows Nicola, saw her walking around the lower field with her springer spaniel Willow.
The witness said their two dogs interacted briefly before she left Nicola via the river path.
At 8.53am, the mum sends an email to her boss at Exclusively Mortgages.
She then logged into a Teams call at 9.01am and was last seen around nine minutes later on the upper field walking Willow.
But by 9.35am she was gone. and her brown springer spaniel Willow wandering free and raised the alarm.
Yesterday search teams focused on a tidal stretch of the Wyre amid fears Nicola had slipped, fallen in and been swept downstream.
But as night fell, the hunt revealed no new information.
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In the appeal to track down the woman yesterday, a spokesman for Lancashire Police said: "She is described as wearing a red and white coat with a fur hood, light-coloured trousers and a light bobble hat.
"She was walking a small, white dog. The woman was seen on CCTV at around 8.48am on Allotment Lane, close to where Nicola was last seen and was also seen near to the gate at the end of Allotment Lane."
